What are the major RPG systems?

[martynq]

For some strange reason, I seem to have decided to demonstrate I can be a geek in more than one way, so I'm developing a classification system for RPG books. :\

Anyway, I was wondering if anyone can enlighten me about what the major RPG systems (i.e., rulesets) are. Here I am trying not to be specific about campaign setting but just concentrate on the rule systems.

I have the following:

Dungeons & Dragons / d20 (of course!)
World of Darkness (i.e., the White Wolf Vampire (etc.) system)
Shadowrun
Hero System
Call of Cthulhu
GURPS
Rifts
Amber
SAGA

and, of course, there are many others. But have I listed the major ones above, or are there any that should be added (or deleted).

Cheers,
Martyn

 

[Ron]

By major I believe you mean systems used in several games that were best sellers along time but not necessarily today. As such, I think it would go something like:

d20 (D&D)
Storyteller (Vampire, Werewolf, etc.)
Palladium (Rifts, Palladium Fantasy RPG)
BRP (Call of Cthulhu, Stormbringer, RuneQuest [sort of])
d6 (Star Wars and several others)
GURPS (too many settings)
HERO (Champions and X Hero, where X may be Star, Fantasy, Pulp, etc.)

Other best selling systems that were limited to a single game would include:

Traveller
Marvel Superheroes
Shadowrun
EarthDawn
DC Heroes

And that's it. I placed them in what I believe is a best selling order, but it is hard to compare older systems with new ones as the sales were much, much higher in the 80s.

 

[Calico_Jack73]

GDW: Twilight:2000, Traveller:New Era, Dark Conspiracy, Cadillacs & Dinosaurs.

 

[diaglo]

Dungeons & Dragons (OD&D 1974) of course!

 

[Zappo]

I would hardly call Amber a major system (except in the context of being the major diceless system). My list would be pretty much the same as Ron's.

 

[thatdarncat]

Rolemaster?

 

[drothgery]

I wouldn't call anything but d20, Storyteller, and maybe GURPS as major systems, but I set a pretty high bar for that label. They've got to still be in print, have non-trivial market share, and be making a profit for their creators.

 

[buzz]

I wouldn't call anything but d20, Storyteller, and maybe GURPS as major systems, but I set a pretty high bar for that label. They've got to still be in print, have non-trivial market share, and be making a profit for their creators.

Does influence on the hobby and lifespan count? If so, BRP and HERO are definitely on the list. We're talking 20+ years and basically inventing classless/skill-based and point-buy, respectively.

I agree with Ron, basically, though I might be willing to argue D6, as well as make a case for Unisystem as an up-and-comer.

 

[Calico_Jack73]

I wouldn't call anything but d20, Storyteller, and maybe GURPS as major systems, but I set a pretty high bar for that label. They've got to still be in print, have non-trivial market share, and be making a profit for their creators.

Yeah but GDW went out of business thanks to a lawsuit by TSR. TSR didn't like Gary Gygax writing Dangerous Journeys for GDW. Even though the lawsuit didn't accomplish anything the legal costs for GDW had grown to the point where it killed the company (that and the CCGs). That was also during the dawn of the Horror genre as the "Genre du jour". All of GDW's games at the time were set in either modern day realistic military settings or in hard Sci-Fi space settings. Dark Conspiracy was their answer to the Horror Genre but it was too little too late (there was even a Twilight: Nightmares suplement to try to inject horror into that game). Twilight:2000, Megatraveller, and 2300AD were great games that still have loyal fan followings. Traveller was brought back as a d20 game and Twilight is on it's way back. Poor business management has no bearing on whether something is or isn't considered a "classic" rules set. If WOTC hadn't bought it out TSR may have gone the way of GDW simply due to poor management.

Edit: Oh yeah, we left out Battletech and Mechwarrior. Though FASA went under the license was picked up and has in fact turned into two lines owned by two different companies. Now only if Wizkids would pick up Earthdawn...

Edit 2: And the FUZION system was left out. Cyberpunk has been out for a good long time (I had the first boxed set) and is a great game with a great system.

 

[Umbran]

Does influence on the hobby and lifespan count? If so, BRP and HERO are definitely on the list. We're talking 20+ years and basically inventing classless/skill-based and point-buy, respectively.

Well, don't overestimate the influence, given that these things can and do develop independantly. Given D&D's classed, level based system, the choice to design otherwise is a pretty natural one.